Boris dumps on London Schools

grayee Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 05:24:32 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

Check out the latest gaff by meanie Boris Johnson in this lift from KenLivingstone.com

Boris Johnson Islington schools insult condemned by Islington MP and Ken Livingstone campaign

An insult by Boris Johnson against state schools in the London borough of Islington has been condemned by Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn and Ken Livingstone's campaign for Mayor. The Times today quotes Boris Johnson as saying he 'extracted' his children from schools in Islington.  The Times reports:'He gives money to three of our most prestigious private schools - two of them in London - in the form of school fees.



His four children started at their local state primary but when secondary loomed,"because we live in Islington, I extracted them". Only one remains there. "I have no embarrassment about it whatever," he says, but at the same time he talks passionately about the problems caused by middle-class flight from state education.

'A spokesperson for the Ken Livingstone campaign said:"Boris Johnson can decide where he chooses to send his children to school, but it is unacceptable to insult the parents and teachers of Islington's schools in this way.

For Boris Johnson to say that he does not send his children to a state school simply because he lives in Islington is disdainful to every parent and teacher in the London borough of Islington.

"Boris Johnson's statement is one of his typical insults - in this case to Islington."Boris Johnson has previously gratuitously insulted Liverpool,Portsmouth and other places and he now appears to start doing it with parts of the city he claims he wants to be Mayor of.

It shows how completely out of touch he is with the reality and needs of London."Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn said:"Our schools have all benefited from new investment and dedicated teachers, and they deserve support from all politicians not contempt like this from Boris Johnson."

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Boris dumps on London Schools | 9 comments (9 topical)

Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#1)

by bishophill on Sat Mar 15, 2008 at 09:05:10 PM GMT

I don't see any contradiction between saying that middle class flight is causing problems in state schools and actually joining that flight yourself. If the schools are bad and the middle classes are escaping to the private sector, then they are being responsible parents. Boris is just being another responsible parent.

This may indeed make things even worse for those left behind but the answer is to deal with the issue of why the middle classes think state education is inadequate, not to accuse them of insulting teachers. The middle class grouse could just as easily be with the shambolic system itself rather than the poor teachers who have to deliver it. 


Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#2)

by grayee on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 10:58:05 AM GMT

Hi bishophill

I think what has annoyed many Londoners is the dismissive nature of the comments by Boris, that he would not even contemplate sending his children to local secondary schools.  Please read the article (link on page).  Yes, there are problems in some inner city state schools.  However, I think this is a kick in teeth for pupils, parents and teachers in state schools.  BorisWatch points out that Islington secondary schools are over subscribed.  While I don’t know Islington, I have friends in Tower Hamlets and Newham, whose children have been to state secondary schools and have done very well from the excellent education they have received.  Two of whom have had “Firsts” at University.

 

Boris’s solution to the so-called “middle class” flight – to improve “disorder on buses” is also bonkers and even insulting.  Especially since he claims that his own young children use public transport to get around?

 

I think that in reality there is a more of a whiff of plain old fashioned snobbery about Boris over this issue.  I would imagine that there are well regarded private schools within or near Islington?  While it would appear from the Times that Boris actually sends his kids to “three of our most prestigious private schools” – which I think we can guess who they are and that they are also not in Islington? 
 
If his argument is purely that the local state schools are so bad, then why did he not send them to a local private school?


[ Parent ]

Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#4)

by bishophill on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 08:45:26 PM GMT

I'm not sure I'm convinced by the argument that Boris' words were dismissive. We're talking about a partial quote of one of his sentences. To seize on this as insulting all and sundry seems a bit desperate to me. Boris' "solution" to the problems of state schools was not billed as being a solution - the whole point of that part of the interview was that he can't do anything about London schools because education is not part of the mayor's remit. He was saying that it was one contribution he could make to an overall settlement. This doesn't stop it being silly of course. Snobbery? - possibly. He can afford private schooling and so he buys it for his kids. So would a majority of people in this country. Whether this means that the majority are snobs, or they are disappointed with state education is open to debate. I certainly know lots of people who choose private education despite its social exclusivity rather than because of it. Why didn't he choose local private schools? One of the beauties of a private education system is that schools can adopt different approaches to schooling. Consumers can pick one with an ethos that they feels suits their child. (Eton is, educationally speaking, on a different planet to Summerhill, although both have passed the test of time. It's an indictment of state schools that, despite there being vastly more of them, they haven't managed to produce this level of diversity). So, to come back to my point, Boris may well have chosen a non-local school because the one he felt was best for his children was not local.


[ Parent ]

Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#5)

by grayee on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 11:21:15 PM GMT

So why didn't he say this then? Guess?


[ Parent ]

Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#6)

by bishophill on Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 08:48:53 AM GMT

Why didn't he say what?


[ Parent ]

Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#7)

by grayee on Mon Mar 17, 2008 at 11:00:58 PM GMT

He wanted a type of public school that suited the needs of his kids?  Not that I would believe it for a minute. I personally don’t think that Boris is quite the buffoon he makes out.  I think he wanted to make cheap political capital out of the genuine fears of parents about school standards


[ Parent ]

Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#3)

by doctordunc on Sun Mar 16, 2008 at 11:18:47 AM GMT

I suppose it would have been more surprising if Boris did actually send his children to state schools, considering the combination of his own expensive education and public school background and his elitist politics.  What is offensive is not where he chooses to send his children - there's nothing hypocritical in a right-wing, elitist Tory bore sending his kids to the same schools he and his peers attended - it is that he chooses to do insult the parents and teachers at Islington schools into the bargain.

Nobody would have been surprised that Boris' children went private - presumably lots of Tory MPs use private education.  What is surprising is that he should comment on this in such a way as to suggest that he did this because he lived in Islington, somehow suggesting that all responsible parents should do likewise, suggesting that Islington schools are especially bad, suggesting that if he lived in a different borough or a different city he may have made a different decision.

It's typical Boris.  It's why he cuts an entertaining figure on panel shows (in the same way Jeremy Clarkson or Jimmy Carr or other people who can offend without responsibility do) and why he would be an absolutely disastrous mayor.


Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#8)

by Limony on Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 08:45:55 PM GMT

"I think what has annoyed many Londoners..."

How many Londoners exactly? Or even approximately? 


Re: Boris dumps on London Schools (#9)

by grayee on Wed Mar 19, 2008 at 12:11:36 AM GMT

Well, I suppose, at least one! probably everyone whose kids are not/never been in private school?


[ Parent ]

Boris dumps on London Schools | 9 comments (9 topical)